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America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

foodandwine.com

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Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#151

Post by Zelphyr »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

> I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things.

I wonder if this is why they always put it in the back of the store? That way you have to walk through a vast array of higher margin things that you might suddenly decide you need on the way to and from picking up a gallon of milk.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#152

Post by md2be »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #41
toomuchtodo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just had mac and cheese (with cashew sauce as the cheese) at a vegan diner in Indianapolis a few days ago, couldn't tell the difference between it and the real deal. It's unlikely you're going to get away with calling cashew sauce "cheese" at scale, but when properly made it gets close.

> Just had mac and cheese at a vegan diner in Indianapolis a few days ago Mind sharing the name? I'm out there in a few weeks.

Vegan Mac Cheese sauce is perhaps the simplistic thing to make - soak cashews overnight in fridge, drain water, add fresh water, blends, add nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, garlic, and a lemon. Heat and serve.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#153

Post by TacticalTable »

Zelphyr wrote: post #151
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

> I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I wonder if this is why they always put it in the back of the store? That way you have to walk through a vast array of higher margin things that you might suddenly decide you need on the way to and from picking up a gallon of milk.

Yes. Same deal with Eggs, and why they have all the candy at the registers. And why they rearrange the store occasionally.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#154

Post by philwelch »

Zelphyr wrote: post #151
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

> I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I wonder if this is why they always put it in the back of the store? That way you have to walk through a vast array of higher margin things that you might suddenly decide you need on the way to and from picking up a gallon of milk.

There's a few reasons. Oftentimes the milk cooker is refilled/restocked from a walk-in cooler behind it accessible only to employees, and it would obviously be difficult to put this anywhere other than the back wall. I suspect it's also easier to run the utilities for freezers and coolers around the perimeter of the store and then down a few aisles.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#155

Post by wool_gather »

Zelphyr wrote: post #151
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

> I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I wonder if this is why they always put it in the back of the store? That way you have to walk through a vast array of higher margin things that you might suddenly decide you need on the way to and from picking up a gallon of milk.

Probably not. There's a more practical reason in most big stores: the shelves where the dairy items are displayed are the front wall of a refrigerated room. This way the product can be placed directly from behind, and never taken out of the cold.

And in a store where the cases are stocked from the front, they need to be up against some wall so that they have access to electrical outlets (and maybe drainage for the compressors, depending on the nature of the case).

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#156

Post by stevenwoo »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

In the United States, the dairy industry is heavily subsidized, there was a brouhaha early in the Trump administration about USA versus Canada dairy subsidies prior to the NAFTA trade deal being replaced. The cost to consumers in the USA should be higher without subsidies but who knows what all the consequences would be since this has been going on for so long.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#157

Post by nickpeterson »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #135

I’m constantly amazed at how cheap milk is in the grocery store. A gallon of Great Value 1% milk is $2.77 now. That seems low for what you are getting (a gallon of protein rich fluid milked from a cow and transported to you). How much profit could be left? I’ve heard that grocery stores sell milk for less than they buy it for just to get you into the store, because they know you will buy other things. I haven’t check…

I've been buying Horizon whole milk for awhile because the cheap milk gallons taste watered down. The price difference is large (~$5 vs ~$2.50), but the milk tastes way better.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#158

Post by _bxg1 »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #74
_bxg1 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how bigger waves haven't yet been made about these locusts. Where's the New York Times expose? Proposals by Congress on how to make this vampirism illegal? Literally anything?

If you want to fix this going forward, make all new defined-benefit pensions plans illegal, as we have amply demonstrated that they can't be trusted over the course of a lifetime. Putting your future in the hands of an automaker was bad enough; why do we expect someone to put their future in the hands of a dairy? A defined-contribution pension plan, where you end up actually owning the assets in question, is the only…

I was talking about the private equity load-and-dump schemes that have been intentionally killing one functioning company after another.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#159

Post by philwelch »

Accujack wrote: post #134
alistairSH wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, Tucker Carlson is not news. He's a pundit/commentator who has a talk show. Neither is John Oliver. I'd almost say they're flip sides of the same coin, except Carlson trends WAY right (often right into conspiracy theory land) and Oliver is more center-left.

Oliver is a journalist, though. That's why Snowden granted him an interview first, before anyone else in the world. Sure, he's humorous, but he's not offering his opinions except in the most general terms. He follows facts, not hype.

No, John Oliver is most definitely a comedian.

Re: America's Biggest Milk Producers Are Going Bankrupt

#160

Post by alistairSH »

eldavido wrote: post #137
alistairSH wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insurance company is effectively acting as a giant escrow account on behalf of the employees/retirees. The employer pays into the account at whatever rate is required to fully fund retirements. The insurance company manages those funds. If the employer goes bankrupt, the funds are not accessible by raiders/PE firms.

This already exists. It's called a 401(k).

Not sure if serious.meme

A defined benefit plan is (nominally) funded by the employer with little or no input from the employee at time of investment or distribution.

A 401k is funded by the employee, with the employee managing contribution level, fund investment, and eventually distributions.

They're only the same, if by same you mean "retirement plans". The details are substantially different.

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